China's new national standard GB 21670-2025 for one-pedal mode in new energy vehicles officially took effect on September 5, 2026, redrawing the safety baseline for EV braking logic.
Under the standard, when a vehicle is powered on, the one-pedal mode may only slow the car down by default and must not bring it to a complete stop. Drivers must manually enable the stronger mode, which automatically reverts to the default each time the vehicle restarts, and a persistent, clearly visible prompt must remain on while the mode is active.
Industry observers say the rule ends the era in which carmakers strongly pushed single-pedal mode as a factory default, forcing manufacturers to recalibrate their brake-blending and kinetic-energy recovery logic so that safety does not depend on a driver's habit.
Image: Vehicles showcased at an international mobility show. Source: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
